When is an Owl Not an Owl?

It has been said that people should learn a language at a young age, when it is supposedly easier.  I think that also applies to the "language of nature".  Bird songs are a good place to start.  My young granddaughter knows at least 12 bird songs and she is not yet three years old.

How did this happen?  She was fascinated with my books that play the bird songs.  She played them over and over.  But that is not the amazing part.  She can also identify birds outside, in nature, with none of the other clues the book provides. 

When she visits our house, my favorite activity is to watch the birds with her.  She can identify by sight all of the birds that come to our feeder.  But she can combine what she has learned in the bird call books with what she sees at the feeder.  She'll say, "That's a chick-a-dee-dee-dee", mimicking the sound the bird makes.





But what about owls?  She doesn't say, "That's an owl." She will say, "That's a Barred Owl," or "That's a Great Horned Owl."  It is not that she can identify things, but that she can appreciate the differences...the diversity in nature.  To me, that is one of the first steps in nature appreciation.  There are many adults that can not recognize the difference, and who call all large owls "Hoot Owls".

Go to the Journey North site to hear both owls.  They are quite different.

So when is an owl not an owl?  When we recognize that there are different types of owls.  The diversity in nature can be appreciated by all..whether we are three, 33, or 103. And recognizing that diversity is an important step in nature appreciation.